It’s a good bet anyone arguing against state-mandated sick days never has to worry about losing his job over a stomach bug.
It’s the same way that people who push hardest for budget cuts know the programs on the chopping block don’t directly affect their lives.
[Connecticut ] Governor Dannel Malloy has his hands full with a budget plan guaranteed to make nearly everyone unhappy. As discussed in a sit-down with reporters and editors last week, it will likely include all measure of tax increases, budget cuts and spending freezes.
But Malloy has also said he wants a law requiring companies to provide paid sick leave to workers. This has led to the predictable cries that Connecticut is anti-business.
Much has been written about family and work responsibilities from the perspective of women. But is balancing work and family also an issue for men?
MomsRising.org, a national go-to organization for work/family issues, would like to learn more about your perspective. Please take 10-15 minutes to tell us about your experiences at work and being a dad.
Your answers will remain confidential and will only be shared in summary form. Your responses will help MomsRising better understand the perspective of fathers on handling work and family responsibilities.
A scene from the documentary "The Sandwich Generation" (photo: Duke Innovation Program)
Cross-posted from MomsRising.org (re-posted from Working Mother Magazine):
While all working women would benefit from access to paid sick leave, the latest data from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) shows that 44 million workers in the U.S. did not have access to a single paid sick day during 2010.
A growing segment of women are facing an incredibly difficult battle in balancing work and family obligations. Women in the “sandwich generation,” or those who care for a child under the age of 18 while also caring for an elderly relative, face significant difficulty in fulfilling their responsibilities at the workplace while offering the necessary care to their loved ones.
And it is working mothers who disproportionately face this unique challenge. Research indicates that women are the primary caretakers of their children and are most often the parents who stay home with a sick child, schedule their children’s doctors’ appointments and take care of organizing follow-up care. Consequently, half (49 percent) of working mothers must miss work when their child is sick with a minor illness, such as a cold or ear infection (compared with 30 percent of working fathers).
Similarly, according to a 2010 study from Metlife, working women provide the majority of care to older frail, disabled or chronically ill relatives, and demographic trends indicate that a greater number of employees of all ages will assume the role of family caregiver because of our increasingly aging population.
It’s a good bet anyone arguing against state-mandated sick days never has to worry about losing his job over a stomach bug.
Washington Work and Family Coalition 